best laptop for the money

[RTB]

If option 1 is "SSD, single card" and option 2 is "no SSD, SLI/crossfire", then you really want option 1. You will notice the speed of the SSD on everything you do on that computer, as opposed to better average fps at the cost of higher energy consumption, which you won't even notice if the fps is over 60ish to begin with.

As for 80 gold versus 80 bronze:

label    Load->	20% 	50%	100%

80 PLUS Bronze 	82% 	85% 	82% 

80 PLUS Gold 	87% 	90% 	87% 


650 watt, single 580


idle: ~130 watt

load: ~400 watt


bronze idle real wattage: 130 / 0.82 = 158.5

bronze load real wattage: 400 / 0.84 = 476.2 (84% assuming graph is linear for about 61% load, which it is not, but close enough)

gold   idle real wattage: 130 / 0.87 = 149.4

gold   load real wattage: 400 / 0.89 = 449.4 (61% load -> 89% efficient assumption)


difference at idle: 158.5 - 149.4 = 9.1 watt

difference at load: 476.2 - 449.4 = 26.8 watt


if kept on 24 hours a day, difference at idle: 9.1 * 24 = 218.4watt = 0.2184 KWh

thus yearly, the difference is at least 0.2184 * 365 = 79.72 KWh

which is roughly 79.72 * 0.15 dollar = 11.96 dollar a year

likewise for full load 24/7/365 it's 26.8/1000 * 24 * 365 * 0.15 = 35.22 dollar/year[/code]


Note that a 7970 is more efficient at idle and at load, so you won't even need a 650w PSU for it.

[starship_troopers]

that clears up everything i had questions about. now on to my next idea....

the SATA II intel 320 i think its called SSD models are obviously a bit slower. but in order to hit a budget i chose it.

now, as far as the folding goes. i'd still rather be able to play games now and in the future better than building a monster system to make folding my primary concern. not saying folding isnt important, i just would put it a slot lower than what i intended on building the system for lol. if that makes sense.

i also opted for a 80+ bronze psu as compared to the gold.

MAIN CHANGE is that i went for the i5 2500k and just plan to OC it to the low to mid 4ghz range....hell the only real difference i found was the Hyper Threading between the 2500k and 2600k. correct me if im wrong.

here is the current idea...and hell its right on budget!!!....welll ok we all know "right on budget" is like a hundred bucks over lol...

Gamer Xtreme 1000 SE (NO MONITOR)

• *BASE_PRICE: [+999]
  
• BLUETOOTH: None
  
• CARE1: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]
  
• CAS: Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Gaming Case [+22]
  
• CASUPGRADE: None
  
• CD: LG UH12LS28K 12X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo Drive (BLACK COLOR)
  
• CD2: None
  
• COOLANT: Standard Coolant
  
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-2500K 3.30 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)
  
• CS_FAN: Maximum 120MM Color Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+15] (Blue Color)
  
• ENGRAVING: Custom Message - Max 35 characters (including spaces) [+0] (Times New Roman Italic [+0])
  
• ENGRAVING_MSG: Tcepsusredruma
  
• FA_HDD: None
  
• FAN: * Thermaltake FRIO Overclocking Cooler Fan (CLP0564) [+20]
  
• FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
  
• FREEBIE_VC1: FREE Game - Deus Ex: Human Revolution [+0]
  
• GLASSES: None
  
• HDD: 120 GB Intel 320 Series SATA-II 3.0Gb/s SSD - 270 MB/s Read & 130MB/s Write [+82] (Single Drive)
  
• HDD2: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+94] (Single Hard Drive)
  
• IEEE_CARD: None
  
• IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
  
• KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard
  
• MB_SRT: None
  
• MEMORY: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory [+3] (Kingston HyperX [+16])
  
• MONITOR: None
  
• MONITOR2: None
  
• MONITOR3: None
  
• MOTHERBOARD: [CrossFireX/SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 ATX Mainboard w/ Lucid Virtu, Intel SRT, UEFI & 7.1 THX TruStudio Audio, GbLAN, HDMI, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI [+68]
  
• MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
  
• NCSW: None
  
• NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
  
• OS: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)
  
• OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
  
• POWERSUPPLY: 1,000 Watts - CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gaming 80 Plus Power Supply [+98]
  
• RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 10~15 BUSINESS DAYS
  
• SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
  
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
  
• SPEAKERS: None
  
• TEMP: None
  
• TUNING: Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Performance Tuning Protection Plan by Intel [+24]
  
• TVRC: None
  
• USB: None
  
• USBFLASH: None
  
• USBHD: None
  
• USBX: None
  
• VIDEO: AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GDDR5 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+414] (Major Brand Powered by AMD)
  
• VIDEO2: AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GDDR5 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+629] (Major Brand Powered by AMD)
  
• VIDEO3: None
  
• WNC: None
  
• XWNC1: Asus USB-N13 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 300Mbps Wireless USB Adapter [+22]
  
• _PRICE: (+2525)
  
• _view_: {2B458457-86DF-4423-BF28-41F6443B0F60}
  
• _load_: 1/27/2012 5:58:46 PM